I find that for the same amount of $ usually I can get a much higher quality piece of used gear than I can get new. also, and this seems backwards compared to others thinking, when I see a 'worn' piece of equipment that is known to be a desirable piece, I am encouraged knowing that it has seen quite a bit of use and is going strong. regardless of whether it has been serviced previously or not, all of us have read so many stories about pres and amps that have seen very light to almost no use that when drug out of storage, something lets go shortly thereafter. the fact that they look new scares me a lot more than when they look like they've been through a war. likewise with cabs, you can get used quality ones so much cheaper (and we've all read the sad stories about new cabs with big problems) that I am not fearful (no pun intended) about driver problems in the future, that is just part of playing.